Thursday, August 30, 2007

Are You Listening?

"A West Virginia State Trooper, stopped a woman for going 15 miles over the speed limit. After he handed her a ticket, she asked him, "Don't you give out warnings?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "They're all up and down the road. They say, 'Speed Limit 55.'" (from Readers Digest, "All In a Day's Work", by Patricia Greenlee)

This story reminds me that one day we will stand before the great Judge. There are many people who expect they will receive merely a "warning" and then they will be given an opportunity to try again. The response on that day will be, "I gave out plenty of warnings -- all through your life -- but you ignored them all."

Remember the rich man in Luke 16 who died and went to Hades? He begged for a messenger to be sent back as a warning to his brothers. The response he got was this:

"They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them....If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." (Luke 16:29,31)

The warnings are there, all over the road. If we ignore the warnings and live the way we want to live rather than for the glory of God, then we shouldn't be surprised when the punishment is issued on the Last Day.